Today was spent cruising up the Ankobra River, in our mighty fishing vessel, which we will be taking out to sea tomorrow.
We set out from our dock just north of the highway bridge crossing the Ankobra (in the background), near the coast, and headed upriver. About 2 km upstream was a nice artisanal gold mining operation.
If you look closely you can see the man working under the tarp. The operation draws water from the river to run through the sluices. All that bare rock represents forest cleared for the mining operation.
If my memory serves me correctly, this land is on a concession held by Adamus Resources Ltd. (excuse me, that's now Endeavour Mining Corp., with which I have no relationship, and of which I own no shares). So this is most likely an illegal operation.
Speaking of questionable mining operations, last week on the Ankobra we stumbled across these.
The dredge is rigged for running up the river, not for operation. The locals here tell of a very large contingent of Chinese miners working with artisanal miners near Prestea. The dredges were not on this part of the river today.
The high price of gold has caused an explosion in artisanal mining all over Ghana. New operations were reported last week on the beach at Elmina, in the Central Region, but local authorities have shut these down. We saw a very large operation along the south side of the coastal highway about twenty minutes west of Agona Nkwanta, which still appears to be active.
We set out from our dock just north of the highway bridge crossing the Ankobra (in the background), near the coast, and headed upriver. About 2 km upstream was a nice artisanal gold mining operation.
If you look closely you can see the man working under the tarp. The operation draws water from the river to run through the sluices. All that bare rock represents forest cleared for the mining operation.
If my memory serves me correctly, this land is on a concession held by Adamus Resources Ltd. (excuse me, that's now Endeavour Mining Corp., with which I have no relationship, and of which I own no shares). So this is most likely an illegal operation.
Speaking of questionable mining operations, last week on the Ankobra we stumbled across these.
The dredge is rigged for running up the river, not for operation. The locals here tell of a very large contingent of Chinese miners working with artisanal miners near Prestea. The dredges were not on this part of the river today.
The high price of gold has caused an explosion in artisanal mining all over Ghana. New operations were reported last week on the beach at Elmina, in the Central Region, but local authorities have shut these down. We saw a very large operation along the south side of the coastal highway about twenty minutes west of Agona Nkwanta, which still appears to be active.
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